LEOPARD — SMALLER CATS 67 



F. pardus suahdica and F. p. ruwenzorii, have large rosettes like those of Persian 

 and Indian leopards ; and it appears to be among leopards of this type that wholly 

 black individuals are occasionally found in Abyssinia and East Africa. 



The majority of African leopards, such as F. p. leopardus of West Africa, are, 

 however, characterised by the spots being small and numerous, as well as by those 

 on the head and fore-part of the body not being arranged in rosettes. These 

 simple, solid spots are not unfrequently continued down the middle line of the 

 back, while those on the limbs are also mainly of the same type. While leopards 

 with this type of markings from more or less open country have a light golden 

 tawny ground-colour, passing into white on the under-parts and inner surfaces of 

 the limbs, those from the moist tropical forests display a darker ground-colour, 

 with tawny yellow under-parts. Other leopards from the wooded parts of the 

 Albany district of South Africa have the ground-colour very dark and the spots 

 extremely small and evenly distributed, with but little trace of rosettes. For this 

 type the name F. p. melanosticta has been suggested. In Somaliland, where lions 

 run smaller than the average, the leopard is also much smaller than any other 

 known representative of the species. It is, in fact, a pigmy leopard, the entire 

 length of the flat skin of an adult male being less than 6 feet, while that of the 

 female is still smaller ; it has accordingly been proposed to designate the Somali 

 race F. p. iianopardios. In coloration and the form of the spots the Somali 

 animal corresponds to the ordinary African type of leopard, as distinct from the 

 large-spotted East African and Indian races. 



The skin of a white leopard of rather diminutive size from Dar-es-Salam, in 



German East Africa, was exhibited at Berlin in the early part of 1909. It was of 



the small-spotted type, and was described as being pure white, with the rosettes 



faintly visible as dark markings. 



Brief notice must suffice for the smaller cats of Ethiopian Africa, 

 Smaller Cats. . , . 



more especially as several of these have received mention in the 



preceding chapter. The African wild cat is represented by several local races, of 



which it will suffice to mention the so-called Kafir cat (F. ocreata coffer) of South 



Africa. Burchell's cat (F. nigripes) is another South African species characterised 



by its diminutive size. The African tiger-cat (F. celidogaster) is a larger and more 



or less whole-coloured species remarkable for its great variety of colour-phases, 



some individuals being grey and others bright red. More remarkable still is the 



fact that a specimen of the red phase has been known to change the colour of 



its fur to dark dusky grey. The species is somewhat larger than an ordinary 



domesticated cat. 



Of the serval (J 7 , served), characterised by its solid black spots, long legs, and 



short tail, there are several local races ; an allied species being the small-spotted 



serval (F. servalina), which, under several local forms, ranges from the forest-districts 



of the west coast to Uganda. The wholly rufous caracal, or red lynx (F. caracal), 



and the hunting-leopard (Cyncelurus jubatus) are, as mentioned in the preceding 



chapter, to be met with, in suitable localities, all over Africa. Till 1911 the 



hunting-leopard was generally regarded as a primitive member of the cat tribe ; 



but in that year the opinion was expressed that it is closely allied to the more 



typical cats, the puma and the lynx, whereas lions, tigers, leopards, and jaguars 



